EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State senior goaltender Chad Alban (Kalamazoo) was named Most Valuable Player for the third straight season at the 1998 Spartan Hockey Awards Banquet tonight at Holiday Inn South in Lansing.

Alban, who also earned the Outstanding Senior Award, becomes just the second Spartan to be named MVP three times, and first since Ron Scott (1981-82-83). Like Scott, Alban was a first-team All-American and the runner-up for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award. In one of the finest seasons ever by a college goaltender, Alban set school records for goals-against average (1.57) and save percentage (.926) while leading the nation in both categories.

"I think the most important thing about Chad was the competitiveness and work habits that he brought to the ice and brought to our team every day," head coach Ron Mason said. "Chad will be remembered here forever, and with the way he could handle the puck, he had a skill that no other goaltender - even Ron Scott - has ever had here at Michigan State."

Other honorees included senior captain Tyler Harlton, who took home three awards, and Mike Jacobson, a Spartan hockey player from the 1960s and current owner of Puck & Pedal sporting goods, who earned the Distinguished Alumnus Award.